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U.S. Hasn't Seen An EF-5 Tornado In 11 Years, Longest Gap In (Recorded) History
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AlleyCat
2024-05-22 21:37:34 UTC
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https://i.imgur.com/cw7pXyE.mp4

U.S. Hasn't Seen An EF5 Tornado In 11 Years, Longest Gap In (Recorded) History

Monstrous twisters of this magnitude can destroy entire neighborhoods in the blink of an eye, grow to be more
than a mile wide and pack winds over 200 mph - stronger than any Category 5 hurricane on record across the
Atlantic basin. [emphasis, links added]

On May 20, 2013, an extremely powerful tornado destroyed a huge part of Moore, Okla. Eleven years later, it
remains the most recent tornado to be rated EF5, the strongest possible rating on the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

The 11-year gap is the longest since official U.S. records began in 1950.

Before the Moore tornado, the blockbuster tornado season in 2011 led to the confirmation of five EF5
twisters, including the Joplin, Missouri, EF5 that killed 161 people. A total of 50 tornadoes have been rated
F5/EF5 since records began in the United States in 1950.

Because most weather instruments can't survive tornadoes, the EF scale estimates tornado strength based on
NWS staff investigating damage indicators.

Meteorologist Bob Henson said in 2023 that the current EF5 "drought" is hard to explain since damage
estimates can be subjective.

Damage to a "well-constructed building" is the most common factor that helps the National Weather Service
(NWS) confirm an EF5, yet many homes in the U.S. do not meet that criteria.

Henson quotes Tanya Brown-Giammanco, director of Disaster and Failure Studies at the National Institute of
Standards and Technology, who says that many houses are missing key features to be considered wind resistant,
disqualifying them from being used to determine if a twister reached EF5 status.

The Enhanced Fujita system is not likely to change from a ground-damage-based scale, Henson says, but new
standards may be implemented to improve rural damage assessments based on damage to wind turbines, irrigation
systems, farm silos, churches, and passenger vehicles.

The National Windstorm Impact Reduction Program at NIST is developing these standards, which would have to be
adopted by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center to change the Enhanced Fujita Scale.

Radar data, by definition measured above ground, cannot be used to rate tornadoes on the EF scale. This
precedent was reaffirmed by the El Reno tornado on May 31, 2013, which tracked just south of El Reno,
Oklahoma. At peak strength, Doppler radar measured winds over 300 mph.

The National Weather Service initially rated El Reno as an EF5, but subsequent damage investigations were
unable to find damage indicators above EF3 since it largely tracked over open fields.

Because of the damage found, the El Reno tornado, despite being the largest twister ever recorded at 2.6
miles wide, was confirmed as an EF3.

https://climatechangedispatch.com/author/ccdeditor/
https://climatechangedispatch.com/constructing-eco-unfriendly-solar-panels-over-californias-aqueducts-is-
newsom-level-stupid/
https://climatechangedispatch.com/extreme-weather/
https://climatechangedispatch.com/midwest-wind-turbine-bent-in-half-catches-fire-after-strong-thunderstorm/
https://climatechangedispatch.com/news/
https://climatechangedispatch.com/u-s-hasnt-seen-an-ef5-tornado-in-11-years-longest-gap-in-recorded-history/
https://climatechangedispatch.com/u-s-hasnt-seen-an-ef5-tornado-in-11-years-longest-gap-in-recorded-history/
#comments
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https://journals.ametsoc.org/view/journals/wefo/30/3/waf-d-14-00152_1.xml
https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/deadly-joplin-missouri-tornado-anniversary/943521
https://www.accuweather.com/en/severe-weather/reconstructing-the-storm-how-meteorologists-conduct-tornado-
damage-surveys/1509109
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/deadly-oklahoma-tornadoes-still-stand-out-in-record-books-10-
years-later/1515239
https://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-news/how-are-tornadoes-rated-using-the-enhanced-fujita-scale-2/432282
https://yaleclimateconnections.org/2023/05/the-u-s-hasnt-seen-an-ef5-tornado-in-almost-10-years-whats-going-
on/

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R Kym Horsell
2024-05-22 22:20:29 UTC
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Post by AlleyCat
https://i.imgur.com/cw7pXyE.mp4
U.S. Hasn't Seen An EF5 Tornado In 11 Years, Longest Gap In (Recorded) History
...

The hockeysticking windstorms kill them off.

Year #wind #ef15 maj weather disaster costs($bns cpi adj)
1982 3570 1 15
1983 4993 nil 26
1984 3566 1 3
1985 3827 3 22
1986 4365 nil 7
1987 4255 nil nil
1988 3947 nil 54
1989 5709 nil 40
1990 6063 3 14
1991 6497 1 19
1992 6443 1 79
1993 4020 nil 65
1994 8359 nil 16
1995 11284 nil 35
1996 14436 1 23
1997 13545 1 17
1998 17322 2 39
1999 14466 1 24
2000 16872 nil 15
2001 16107 nil 22
2002 16401 nil 27
2003 15159 nil 38
2004 15789 nil 91
2005 15644 nil 27
2006 18205 nil 25
2007 16829 1 19
2008 23447 1 93*
2009 18280 nil 20
2010 20697 nil 20
2011 26943 9 97*
2012 21973 nil 16
2013 18231 1 32
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Alan
2024-05-22 23:24:04 UTC
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Post by AlleyCat
https://i.imgur.com/cw7pXyE.mp4
U.S. Hasn't Seen An EF5 Tornado In 11 Years, Longest Gap In (Recorded) History
Assuming arguendo (you know what that means, don't you?) that it's true,
so what?

You've been arguing that the frequency and strength of tornadoes (and
hurricanes) aren't correlated with global warming.

Are you now arguing that they prove it isn't happening?

Because that contradicts your earlier assertion.

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